Using hundreds of first-hand kratom reports, we can document and distill out the reasons why people use kratom, the routes and methods of self administration, the range of doses used, how dose relates to subjective effects, the range of effects, and what doses or substance combinations are most likely to lead to health problems.

Of the 798 experience reports about Mitragyna speciosa and kratom products that were submitted to Erowid before March 20, 2015, 234 have been accepted by our review team and published. Among submitted reports, 91% were written by men and 9% by women (when author gender was specified). The earliest reports in our collection describe experiences from 2000, which marks the beginning of commercial mail-order availability of kratom in North America, Australia, and Europe.

In 2000, kratom products were generally whole or crushed dried leaf. Based on experience reports and Erowid's vendor monitoring, leaf extracts and extract-enhanced leaf first became available in 2002 and were widely available by 2004. Interest in kratom information grew slowly but steadily during the subsequent decade. In 2004, the Kratom Vault was the 50th most visited substance index on Erowid.org. By early 2014, it had risen to 8th place, but has recently dropped to 15th.

Generally, in North America, the dried leaves of M. speciosa are taken as a bitter tea, loose-leaf powder, or in capsules. Kratom users commonly describe paradoxically stimulating and sedating effects that are most often likened to the effects of opioids such as codeine or oxycodone. It is used recreationally, as an analgesic, as a self-treatment for opioid withdrawal symptoms, and less commonly as a method for interrupting another addiction (e.g. cigarette or benzodiazepine dependence). Reports from Southeast Asia include significantly more descriptions of chewed (buccal) whole leaves used as a daytime work drug, taken for the purpose of relieving boredom and the discomfort of manual labor. Kratom is considered addictive; reports of physical and psychological dependence, tolerance, and physical withdrawal symptoms are common, though not universal, in experience reports.

The amount of kratom leaf or leaf powder used per dose varies from one gram to fifty grams. Because kratom is a natural plant product and the commercial products are unregulated, potencies can vary dramatically from one capsule, Mylar package, or bag of leaf powder to another. Many commercial kratom products in 2015 include kratom leaf extract redeposited on crushed or powdered leaf, making them more potent than untreated kratom leaves. Tinctures, resins, and straight extracts (not deposited on leaf) are also sold. Dosage of these products varies depending on the concentration of M. speciosa alkaloids present in the source material.

Retail kratom products available to the general public range from the low potency "commercial grade" crushed leaf, to "premium", "super premium", "enhanced", and "super enhanced" leaf. Extracts are usually labeled as "5x", "15x", or similar, putatively indicating relative strengths. These, plus additional terms such as "Maeng Da" (aka "Pimp Grade"), plant provenance such as "Indonesian", and other vendor-supplied details are used in wine tasting-style comparisons of the quality and potency of products. Although some ethnobotanic a l vendors reliably differentiate weaker from more potent kratom preparations using these terms, other vendors use them as marketing jargon regardless of product potency.

Most kratom used in North America is ingested orally, with a few reports of buccal, smoked, or (more rarely) rectal administration. Many kratom users take repeated doses in a single session/day, often redosing between one to three hours after the previous dose. A day or session of kratom use might involve up to eight doses (see table), though typical usage involves between one and three per day. The dosage estimates above are for single oral administrations in non-habituated users.

Kratom teas and extracts, when taken orally on an empty stomach, usually begin to take effect within 15 minutes. On the other end of the spectrum, the effects of capsules swallowed on a full stomach can be delayed 1-3 hours. The primary stimulating phase lasts 1-2 hours, with the more sedating effects lasting another 1-3 hours, for a total duration of 2-5 hours for a single oral dose. Higher doses result in longer durations.

Users report lingering after-effects lasting several hours before they feel "down" from the experience. Some kratom users report alcohol-like hangovers following moderate or strong doses. Taking kratom daily can result in tolerance and eventually physical dependence. In such instances, symptoms described as similar to those of opioid withdrawal usually begin 18-24 hours after the last dose and continue for 1-14 days.



The most commonly reported kratom effects range from euphoric stimulation to sleepy dream-like reverie, and from pedestrian caffeine- or alcohol-like intoxication to overwhelming nausea and vertigo. The character of the experience changes as dose increases, beginning with a light relaxing stimulation at low doses and becoming a strong, nodding sedation at high doses. Euphoria and moderate intoxication are characteristic of the mid-dose range.

A report of an unusual side-effect:
"VR + Kratom ⇒ Sim Sickness, by RevMeO

A short retrospective of one person's experiences with kratom:
In Praise of Kratom Leaf, by Fer

Kratom is one of those psychoactives that occupies a curious position as a traditional plant medicine with real potential for pharmaceutical development, naturopathic healing, and addiction management uses. It parallels cannabis or khat in the global apothecary, along with attendant complexities of an extended ethnobotanical history, cultural expectations, and social resistance to allowing another natural intoxicant to creep into widespread use.

Vendors contacted by Erowid between 2013 and 2015 described ceasing kratom sales because of concerns about federal and state law enforcement, news coverage, and legislative threats. Some vendors stopped listing the products (but continued to sell them privately) to avoid attention, while most have stopped selling kratom completely.

Kratom's opioid-like analgesia and the possibility that it might be less likely to lead to problematic addiction make it a potentially important plant medication. But, as far as establishment medicine goes, it faces the same challenge as opioids: it is kind of fun for many users. Two years ago, kratom seemed headed for quick bans across the United States, but it has gained some support from medical research communities and has so far stayed out of the federal Schedules. Kratom pokes yet another hole in the poorly-conceived US Controlled Substances Act and UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances: There must be a place for natural plant products with real medicinal value outside of the black market.